What is a Paint Prepper?
The average paint prepper salary is $41,414. The most common degree is a high school diploma degree with an automotive technology major. It usually takes 1-2 years of experience to become a paint prepper. Paint preppers with a Master Collision Repair & Refinishing Technician certification earn more money. Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 4% and produce 7,300 job opportunities across the U.S.
What Does a Paint Prepper Do
There are certain skills that many paint preppers have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed customer-service skills, detail oriented and dexterity.
How To Become a Paint Prepper
If you're interested in becoming a paint prepper, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 2.2% of paint preppers have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 0.6% of paint preppers have master's degrees. Even though some paint preppers have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Paint Prepper Career Paths
In addition to switching up your job search, it might prove helpful to look at a career path for your specific job. Now, what's a career path you ask? Well, it's practically a map that shows how you might advance from one job title to another. Our career paths are especially detailed with salary changes. So, for example, if you started out with the role of painter you might progress to a role such as maintenance technician eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title maintenance supervisor.
Average Salary for a Paint Prepper
What Am I Worth?
Roles and Types of Paint Prepper
The role of a paint prepper includes a wide range of responsibilities. These responsibilities can vary based on an individual's specific job, company, or industry.Here are some general paint prepper responsibilities:
- Wash vehicles to remove dirt, oil, grease
- Wash, clean, and wipe down vehicles to be painted remove
- Operates and uses all body shop equipment properly
There are several types of paint prepper, including:
Auto Body Technician
Role:
Auto body technicians are everyone's heroes when it comes to cars. From vehicle bodies and frames, to windshields and window glass, they've got you covered. They can restore, refinish and even replace it all.
These technicians often work in body shops, which can get loud. So you might want to bring some earplugs to work, unless you want to go home feeling like you were just at a concert. The main requirement for becoming an auto body technician is completing a training program in automotive body or glass repair. Once you've completed that, the rest will come naturally.
- Average Salary: $39,232
- Degree: High School Diploma
Paint Technician
Role:
A paint technician has expert knowledge of various paint and varnish coatings, as well as the equipment, tools, and application methods used on the job. They're most often involved in the auto industry, where you'll get the opportunity to paint, recover, or even redesign the body paint of a number of different vehicle models.
Modern health and safety regulations ensure that paint technicians are not exposed to dangerous and toxic chemicals on the job. Going into this job, you'll need to understand and abide by the safety details for handling paint and painting equipment. However, not only is this provided in your certification course, but your company will most likely provide you with further health information to ensure your safety.
Many paint technicians start out with at most a high school diploma. While it's preferred to have a technical certification, on-the-job trade experience, or an apprenticeship can be just as good for your resume. On average, a paint technician can earn between $19-$27 an hour.
- Average Salary: $37,602
- Degree: High School Diploma
Body Technician
Role:
Body technicians work in auto repair shops and fix damaged bodies of vehicles. They check parts, order and replace faulty components, hammer out dents, and prepare other repair work as necessary.
You will work under the supervision of a manager and report to him or her if there are additional repairs needed or if scheduled repair times need extensions to deliver quality service. It will be your job to maintain your tools and working environment safe and functional and respect safety regulations at all times.
You can get to work with a GED or high school diploma. Getting vocational training in auto mechanics will help a great deal, as experience is often required. There are also certifications out there, which you can acquire to prove your skills and boost your chances of getting hired.
- Average Salary: $39,798
- Degree: High School Diploma
States With The Most Paint Prepper Jobs
Number Of Paint Prepper Jobs By State
| Rank | State | Number of Jobs | Average Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Texas | 71 | $39,803 |
| 2 | California | 41 | $43,621 |
| 3 | Pennsylvania | 31 | $44,910 |
| 4 | North Carolina | 31 | $41,679 |
| 5 | Florida | 28 | $43,313 |
| 6 | Arizona | 26 | $42,965 |
| 7 | Ohio | 23 | $36,791 |
| 8 | Georgia | 22 | $49,685 |
| 9 | Illinois | 21 | $52,134 |
| 10 | Indiana | 21 | $33,802 |
| 11 | Virginia | 19 | $49,419 |
| 12 | Maryland | 16 | $39,459 |
| 13 | Michigan | 14 | $46,249 |
| 14 | Utah | 13 | $42,871 |
| 15 | Minnesota | 13 | $43,207 |
| 16 | Oregon | 13 | $39,220 |
| 17 | Tennessee | 13 | $37,864 |
| 18 | Colorado | 13 | $39,417 |
| 19 | Iowa | 12 | $43,149 |
| 20 | Washington | 10 | $50,773 |
| 21 | New York | 10 | $46,657 |
| 22 | Oklahoma | 9 | $36,758 |
| 23 | South Carolina | 8 | $37,635 |
| 24 | Wisconsin | 8 | $35,676 |
| 25 | New Jersey | 6 | $50,303 |
| 26 | Missouri | 6 | $39,139 |
| 27 | Arkansas | 6 | $36,057 |
| 28 | Rhode Island | 5 | $51,806 |
| 29 | North Dakota | 5 | $42,389 |
| 30 | Massachusetts | 5 | $49,662 |
| 31 | Kentucky | 5 | $40,628 |
| 32 | Alabama | 5 | $40,715 |
| 33 | Delaware | 4 | $49,512 |
| 34 | South Dakota | 4 | $37,373 |
| 35 | Montana | 4 | $38,411 |
| 36 | Connecticut | 3 | $52,243 |
| 37 | Idaho | 3 | $47,785 |
| 38 | Nebraska | 3 | $41,217 |
| 39 | Kansas | 3 | $39,020 |
| 40 | West Virginia | 2 | $43,789 |
| 41 | Nevada | 2 | $45,799 |
| 42 | Wyoming | 2 | $40,317 |
| 43 | Mississippi | 2 | $39,843 |
| 44 | Louisiana | 2 | $37,367 |
| 45 | New Hampshire | 1 | $52,189 |
| 46 | Alaska | 1 | $51,772 |
| 47 | New Mexico | 1 | $37,400 |
| 48 | Maine | 0 | $55,602 |
| 49 | Vermont | 0 | $47,960 |
| 50 | Hawaii | 0 | $47,168 |
Top Skills For a Paint Prepper
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 19.9% of paint preppers listed body shop on their resume, but soft skills such as customer-service skills and detail oriented are important as well.
Choose From 10+ Customizable Paint Prepper Resume templates
Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Paint Prepper templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Paint Prepper resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.
Paint Prepper diversity
Paint Prepper Gender Distribution
After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
- Among paint preppers, 8.5% of them are women, while 91.5% are men.
- The most common race/ethnicity among paint preppers is White, which makes up 64.0% of all paint preppers.
- The most common foreign language among paint preppers is Spanish at 71.4%.
Online Courses For Paint Prepper That You May Like
1. Painting Machines: Concept Art Vehicles, Robots & Weapons
Learn Incredibly Cool Photoshop Painting Techniques to Create Professional Level Machine Art...
2. Electric Vehicle Education
Vehicle Types, Nomenclature, How They Work, Charging, Performance, Cost of Ownership, Features, Benefits, And More...
3. Acrylic Painting - Introduction to Acrylic Painting
An Introduction to Acrylic Painting For Beginners. Learn how to paint in Acrylics using the Moore Method of Painting...
How Do Paint Preppers Rate Their Jobs?
Top Paint Prepper Employers
Most Common Employers For Paint Prepper
| Rank | Company | Average Salary | Hourly Rate | Job Openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Daimler Trucks North America | $53,963 | $25.94 | 2 |
| 2 | Knapheide | $53,291 | $25.62 | 4 |
| 3 | OPEX | $51,554 | $24.79 | 4 |
| 4 | Sterling Autobody | $42,639 | $20.50 | 3 |
| 5 | Gerber NCS | $42,390 | $20.38 | 12 |
| 6 | Cooks Collision | $41,840 | $20.12 | 2 |
| 7 | Kelly Services | $40,947 | $19.69 | 3 |
| 8 | LeadingEdgeAviation | $40,468 | $19.46 | 6 |
| 9 | International Aerospace Coatings | $40,465 | $19.45 | 4 |
| 10 | Robinson Helicopter | $40,129 | $19.29 | 3 |
Paint Prepper Videos
